Educe
by futureauthor13
Summary: Educe: To bring or draw out. Sometimes, all it takes is a special person to help draw out something that you yourself didn't even know you had. Wander/Sylvia Friendship. Oneshot.


**This was part of a drabble set I wrote on Tumblr, but it was long enough I thought I could make it into a nice little oneshot. Hope you guys enjoy.**

"Say, Wander?"

"Yeah, Sylvia?"

"We're totally lost, aren't we?"

"What! Noooo, we aren't lost! We're just, havin' a bit of trouble findin' this place, that's all!"

"Yeah, that's what I said. We're lost."

"We know where we're goin', we're just havin' a bit of trouble finding it," Wander told her, "but don't worry, we'll find it eventually! After all, no point havin' a path if it doesn't lead somewhere, right Sylv?"

Sylvia mumbled a reply. They had been walking on this path for a good four hours now, and had seen nothing but bare, dead trees. No plants, no creatures, not even an insect. Just coal black trees and pale green grass. Her feet were aching, and her patience was quickly running out. "Wander, if we don't find this 'somewhere', I'm leaving."

"What?" Wander looked at her in disbelief, "We just got here! Don't ya wanna see -"

"See what, Wander?" Sylvia snapped, "We landed on the outskirts of a dead forest, and even as we were landin' I didn't see a thing here! I still don't see anything! We have been walking for miles, usin' up all this energy and wasting time just because you think you're gonna find somethin' that's gonna make all of this worth it, but honestly Wander, it's a lost cause! And I for one just want to get off this florping rock!"

Once her rant was finished, she looked back at her traveling partner, and felt a twinge of guilt. He didn't look that upset, but it was still there. "Sorry, Sylvia," he mumbled, "I guess it would be kinda frustrating to go to all this trouble and not see anything." Her guilt remained, even started to grow a bit, but she kept the emotion off her face.

"Why don't we rest for a bit, and then we can leave, okay?" He said, giving her a small smile. The zbornak sighed. She could never stay mad at him for too long.

"Yeah, sure." She sat down on the dusty trail, giving her feet a break from all the walking. "Sorry about yelling at you."

"It's fine, really," Wander replied as he took off his hat. Reaching inside, he pulled out several snacks and drinks for their lunch break, making sure to put them all near Sylvia and letting her get first pick. They ate in silence, and when Sylvia ate her fill, she leaned up against one of the ashy trees. "I have to say, these things are good for one thing."

Wander chuckled. "If you wanna take a nap or something, I can get you a pillah' or some-"

"I'm fine," Sylvia said quickly, not looking directly at him, "Don't, don't trouble yourself."

"Alright." Since he still had plenty of energy, Wander started to think of something to keep himself busy. He didn't want to rush his friend, so it had to be something that would keep his attention for a while. Looking around at his surroundings, an idea hit him. "Ding!" Of course! Quickly, he located a low hanging branch and pulled himself up.

"Don't hurt yourself," Sylvia told him as she watched him climb. He couldn't believe how easy it was for him. Then again, considering some of things he's done, climbing a simple tree was probably a piece of cake, despite his total lack of muscles. The zbornak found herself smiling as she watched him. He would take in every detail of the tree, how it felt and how it looked, he even took to looking through the abandoned holes in the tree to see if there were any creatures still in there. When he neared the top, he stopped. "Sylvia..."

"What is it?" Sylvia asked, sitting up, "Is everything okay?" When she received nothing but silence, she wasted no time rushing over to the tree and climbing up it herself. It took a bit longer, but she reached the high branch without any problems. "Okay, I'm up here," she said, her arms shaking a bit from the height despite her lack of fear, "Now what made you stop."

"That," he answered, pointing out in the distance. Sylvia followed his finger, and her jaw dropped. It was a statue. A giant stone statue of... of something. She had no idea what. But whatever it was, it was pretty florping amazing.

Looking back at her friend, she could see his face filled with amazement and curiosity. The fact that it had stunned him into silence - a rare occurrence for the chatty nomad - was enough indication to just how incredible a sight it was. Turning towards her, Wander started to say something, but stopped.

Knowing just what was stopping him, Sylvia gave him a smile. "Well, at least we actually know where we're going now." Wander grinned, hugging her.

As they climbed down, Sylvia couldn't help but feel a little lighter. Had she been by herself, she probably would've thought it was just some rock - an amazing looking one, but a rock nonetheless - and nothing to travel miles for just to see up close. But with Wander... well, sometimes his optimism and wonder could even crack her shell at times.

Feet no longer feeling as if they were about to fall off, Sylvia gladly allowed herself to run down the old path, her friend hanging on to her reigns and no doubt smiling as the wind blew past them.

(()()()())()()

"...Geez, this place looks deader than the forest." Looking around, she could see nothing but grey, closed up flowers and more dead grass. Up close, she could see the statue's cracks and other flaws. Despite all of this, Wander never lost his smile.

"I still think this is pretty neat," he commented, "Who do you think made this? Do you think they planted all these flowers too?" He bent down, frowning slightly. "Poor little guys. They look like they could use a long drink."

"There probably hasn't been any rain here in ages," Sylvia added, "I hate to say it, but I think they're past saving."

"Well, we're already here," he replied back, "So we can at least try." Taking off his hat, he retrieved a small watering can, and poured it on any flowers that were near him. Unfortunately the droplets proved to be too much too late, because as soon as they hit the petals, they collapsed into a small pile of dust. The nomad gasped slightly. "Oh..."

Sylvia didn't bother saying 'I told you so'. She just gave him a small, sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "Sorry buddy."

"Thanks," he said, giving her a small smile. He looked back at the ashes, but had to quickly rub his eyes. He could've sworn he saw... He did. A small sprout of green poking out of the grey. He looked at the other deceased flowers, and found the same result. "Sylv, look."

"I..." She took a closer look, even touching them to make sure they weren't some illusion. They were real alright. "What are these plants? I - Wander?" Looking ahead, she could see Wander running alongside each flower, pouring water on each of them. When he ran out of water, he started just brushing the flowers away, either with his hands or feet. Seeing what he was doing, Sylvia started doing it as well, using her long tail to sweep the flowers away, spreading the ashes into the air.

Before they knew it, they were surrounded by tiny, green stems. They didn't know how long it would take before they would be full grown flowers, but it didn't matter. Smiling, Wander looked at his friend, but noticed that she wasn't looking back at him. Instead, she was looking at the huge, rock statue. Looking past it's cracks and thick coating of dust, she could see what almost looked like... folded wings. "I wonder..." She caught her traveling partner's eye, and the two shared a knowing smile.

"Go for it." He told her. Minding the newborn plants, Sylvia walked over to the statue and touched it. As if it were made out of eggshells, her finger left a small crack. Forming a fist, Sylvia pulled her hand back and gave the statue a hard punch.

Almost instantly, the cracks spread, and it broke into dozens of tiny pieces. She watched the remains of the statue, hoping for something to come out. After a full two minutes of waiting, she finally saw something move. A small rock was pushed out of the way, and the tiny head of a bird poked out. She had never seen a green bird before, nor one this small and skinny. "Her little guy," she said, stretching her tail out over to it. When she picked it up, the bird let out a small peep, but it didn't try to peck her.

"Hi there," Wander whispered, trying to hold in his excitement, "Nice to meet you! Gosh, you are so cute!" Gently, he stroked her feathery head, recieving happy chirps in return.

Moving it to her hand, Sylvia gave it a few pets as well. "Sorry there isn't much here for ya," she told it, "But, I mean, we'd be willing to stay here and help take care of you until you get strong enough to-"

The bird interrupted her with a loud peep before rubbing its head against her thumb, as if to say that their help was appreciated but not needed.

Understanding, Sylvia set the bird down on the rough grass. It fluffed up its feathers, shaking them out before taking its first steps. They were shaky at first, but grew stronger with each one. The grass that touched it slowly turned greener, and the bird's feathers turned green with it. Finally, after being satisfied with it's progress in walking, the bird started to try and fly. Flapping its wings, it flew just a few centimeters up, then a few inches, and then a few feet, taking to the skies as if it had been doing this its whole life. 'Maybe it has,' Sylvia thought as they watched it fly towards the forest.

Life was coming back to the planet, spread by both them and the bird - who they could see was growing bigger and its tail feathers almost looked like flowery vines. Maybe with this, the creatures would start returning as well. Life would begin anew.

It almost never seemed to fail. With every obstacle they came across, they would work together to overcome it. Whenever they got into trouble, they could always get out of it. Even the times when Sylvia thought a planet wasn't worth going to - or heck, even the rare times where she felt like she was tired of traveling, and settling down somewhere would be better, if not a bit boring. Even during these times, Wander would pull her back, but not by force. Never by force. He just simply had a special way of showing her, reminding her, of all the fun and beauty that could be found in the universe. He was, in simplest terms, her light. Her wonderful, fun, kind-hearted, sometimes annoying but still something she couldn't really live without, in her grumpiest, bitterest, most frustrated moments - he could bring out something in her that even she didn't notice half the time. And that, she would always be thankful for.

"Pretty amazing, huh?" Wander said.

"Yeah," Sylvia replied, pulling him in for a one-armed hug, "It really is."

"Worth the long trip?"

She gave a small laugh and pulled him closer. "Always."


End file.
